Let’s roll: Wake Forest shocks Wolfpack

Wednesday

Jan 23, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 23, 2013 at 12:54 AM

Adam Smith / Times-News

WINSTON-SALEM — The court-rushing students having dispersed and the questions from reporters winding down, C.J. Harris, between dabs of his bloody left eye, revealed where his next stop would be Tuesday night after leaving Joel Coliseum.

Hearn Plaza, more commonly known as the upper quad on Wake Forest’s campus.

Tradition dictates that the lawn and trees there get streamed with toilet paper after significant victories.

And for the Demon Deacons, starving to continue climbing back toward relevance in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball, their 86-84 upset of 18th-ranked North Carolina State certainly qualified as meaningful enough to roll the quad.

“I’ve got the toilet paper in the locker room right now,” said Harris, the team’s lone scholarship senior, adding that he already had borrowed some from a nearby restroom. “Yeah, I’m going straight there. Absolutely.”

With Devin Thomas authoring the relentless performance of his young career — the freshman forward supplied a season-high 25 points, 14 rebounds, four blocked shots, four assists and three steals, all Wake Forest highs — the Demon Deacons knocked off a nationally ranked opponent for the first time under third-year coach Jeff Bzdelik.

Travis McKie, Wake Forest’s only other veteran, added 16 points and eight rebounds. His free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining helped ensure that N.C. State would have to navigate its second narrow loss on the road and subsequent court-storming in the span of a week.

But this special night belonged to Thomas, who had yet to top more than 12 points in a college game, and the Demon Deacons’ other freshmen — Codi Miller-McIntyre, Arnaud Adala Moto, Tyler Cavanaugh and Madison Jones — who delivered 40 of the team’s 51 second-half points, in overcoming what was a 16-point deficit from late in the first half.

“We live in the moment,” Bzdelik said, “and this is a great moment.”

After the Demon Deacons denied N.C. State’s late rally — and avoided wasting a 10-point lead in the game’s frenetic final four minutes — their celebration trickled from the flooded court to the hallway outside their locker room, where athletics director Ron Wellman and other VIPs were waiting with high-fives and hugs.

McKie, a junior, likened what he was experiencing to one of college basketball’s trademarks.

“What’s that thing at the NCAA Tournament, ‘One Shining Moment?’ ” he said. “This is definitely mine right here. I’ll remember this always.

“It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Man, my two years here, a lot of losing, a lot of misery, a lot of depression. We’re definitely going to enjoy this one. I’ve been waiting for it.”

Miller-McIntyre pumped in 13 of his 15 points in the second half. Moto and Cavanaugh combined for 14 points in the second half, when Wake Forest shot 59.4 percent from the field.

Thomas, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound lefty, connected on 10-for-13 from the field. His confidence seemed to grow with every bucket in the post, rebound in traffic and hustle play, and he said Bzdelik challenged the Demon Deacons at halftime.

By the 8:25 mark of the second half, their response had materialized in the form of 30 second-half points from freshman — out of the team’s 35 by that juncture — that had this building rocking again like bygone nights.

“At halftime, Coach was telling us how they were laughing at us in the huddle,” Thomas said. “So we took that personal and we hit them in the mouth.”

The end came with Harris applying an ice bag to his blood-filled eye in a tunnel beneath the stands, the result of a wayward Wolfpack finger, and Wake Forest scratching to hold onto what had been an 82-72 lead with four minutes remaining.

C.J. Leslie, who logged just 18 minutes and was neutralized for long stretches by foul trouble, went up high to score over Thomas inside, bringing the Wolfpack within 83-81 with 1:48 left.

Later, with N.C. State trailing by one with 29.9 seconds left, Leslie missed a pair of free throws. Then Scott Wood missed an open 3-pointer seconds later after another of Richard Howell’s rebounds.

Wake Forest led 84-82 when the last 10 seconds became a flurry of physicality down low. Leslie missed underneath when he appeared to absorb a foul that went uncalled. The ball ended up with Rodney Purvis, who floated a follow shot with about eight seconds left that didn’t fall, either.

Leslie, trying to tip in a put-back, was among a cluster of bodies that elevated for the rebound of Purvis’ miss. And there appeared to be more contact.

Ultimately, that perhaps decisive sequence left Leslie angrily flailing his right arm and punching the air in the direction of official Ted Valentine on the baseline.

“Can’t get a better shot. You just can’t get one. I’d have him take it again 100 times,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said, referring to the game-tying attempt Leslie muscled up. “Calvin, inside, there was a lot of contact in there. … But we had enough chances.”

Purvis scored 11 of his 18 points in the first half. Howell, before fouling out in the last four seconds, collected 13 points and 16 rebounds. T.J. Warren chipped in 12 of his 14 points in the first half.

Warren had a chance at a miraculous game-winner after stealing McKie’s long inbounds pass near midcourt. Warren’s heave was way long at the buzzer, as fans spilled onto the court.

Leslie and Lorenzo Brown scored 13 points apiece. Brown dished out 10 assists and had the Wolfpack running early, toward what felt like another blowout in the making,

These teams’ five previous meetings had finished in lopsided N.C. State victories by an averaging margin of more than 21 points. Last season, the Wolfpack routed Wake Forest 76-40 here.

N.C. State, getting out in transition and converting a bevy of attacking opportunities, raced to a 47-31 lead in the final minute of the first half. It was 47-35 at halftime.

“You could feel the energy in the coliseum changing, picking up,” Thomas said. “That helped us out a lot.”

-- TIP-INS …:Wake Forest’s last victory against a Top 25 team came in February 2010 against Georgia Tech. Dino Gaudio coached the Demon Deacons then. … Wake Forest went the final 4:10 of Tuesday night’s game without a field goal. … Harris exited with 4:24 remaining after getting poked in the eye. He returned with 29.9 seconds left and hit one of two free throws seven seconds later. … Thomas flapped his arms repeatedly during the second half, exhorting the crowd’s increasing noise. He said he was gassed by the end and catching cramps in his calves. … Praise flowed for Thomas. “He imposed his will down there on the block,” McKie said. Harris said: “His passion, his energy he was everywhere. The bigs of N.C. State, he didn’t back down from them. He just went straight at them.”